


Home Sweet Home

by jedipati



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Family, Family doesn't end in blood, Gen, Purgatory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-17
Updated: 2012-07-17
Packaged: 2017-11-10 03:39:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/461809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jedipati/pseuds/jedipati
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Castiel find that they have friends, and even family in Purgatory.  A family that is still incomplete.  Sam can't find a way to get Dean out of Purgatory... but something is trying to drag him in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home Sweet Home

**Author's Note:**

> This story is written in answer to a prompt on the Season 7 Finale Comment Fic Meme for Both Boys on livejournal. Yes, I am aware that it is nearly two months later... Let's just say that Real Life and I weren't getting along.

Wherever Bobby Singer had expected to end up after the flask was burned, it wasn’t in a large room filled with beings he (for the most part) knew or knew of.

Bobby opened his eyes slowly, to see a woman he’d only seen in pictures kneeling next to him. “Mary Winchester?” Bobby asked 

The woman looked up. “He’s awake,” she said. She looked back down. “Yes, Bobby. And thank you, so much. I’ve heard a lot about how you cared for my boys.”

Bobby sat up. “The boys!” he said. He winced and swayed. 

Someone helped him stay sitting. “Easy, Bobby. Purgatory takes a bit of getting used to. Are the boys in trouble again?”

“When are they not, John?” Bobby grumbled as the dizziness eased. “And what do you mean, Purgatory?”

Mary laughed humorlessly. “Apparently, we’re not good enough for Heaven, if we chose to stay behind.”

Bobby blinked. He looked over at John. “You’re not surprised,” he said.

John snorted. “You stayed behind for the boys, right?”

Bobby nodded.

“Nope,” John said. “What mess are they in now?”

Bobby paused, waiting for the now familiar consuming rage as he thought about Dick Roman, but it never came. He was still angry, but it wasn’t overwhelming. “Leviathan. And it’s just the two of them, a demon, and a broken angel. I couldn’t hold on long enough to help them.”

John nodded. “You did more than enough, Bobby,” he said. He stood up and held out his hand to help Bobby up. “Thank you. Now come on, I’ll introduce you around. This place is the little bastion of sanity we’ve managed to carve out.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean Winchester and Castiel ran. The only weapons they had were the three knives Dean always carried, and Castiel’s sword. That wasn’t nearly enough for them to defend themselves, so they ran.

About the only upside to this situation was that Castiel seemed to be more like his normal self. He’d returned to Dean barely thirty seconds after he’d disappeared, with just a brief comment on how he couldn’t find an exit.

Castiel skidded to a halt and pulled Dean behind a tree. The angel glanced around. “Dean, there are some souls nearby that feel like… a bit like you and Sam. Vessels, most definitely, of the Winchester or Campbell line.”

Dean glanced down. “Campbells have been hunters for a long time, Cas,” he said. “Some of them probably got turned. And who knows what happened to Winchesters. We don’t know anything about our family past my dad’s grandparents.”

Castiel nodded. “Still, they seem… I believe we should try to find them.”

Dean chuckled. “Might as well. But the last time we met up with my extended family, it didn’t go well.”

“I am aware of that,” Castiel said. “Still, perhaps…”

“Yeah, let’s go. Which way?”

“They are approximately…” the angel shrugged briefly. “Distances do not make sense here. Far enough away that it would take a while to walk there.”

“Ok, angel air we go,” Dean said. “Make sure we’re out of sight.”

“I am not stupid, Dean,” Castiel said. He reached out and a second later, they were standing next to a large boulder. “Careful, the souls are perhaps a… as best I can describe it, a hundred feet on the other side of this rock.”

Dean snorted, but he was used to the messed up way Purgatory was now. “Boost me up; I’ll take a look over the top.”

Castiel nodded and steadied Dean as he peaked over the top. Dean ducked back down almost immediately. “Some sort of complex. They’ve got a fence, and I think there’s buildings behind it. There are guards, too. They look human, but who knows what they really are. I sure as Hell can’t tell.”

“I will look,” Castiel said.

Dean returned the favor, and the angel dropped back down after a moment. “One is a former vengeful spirit. The other is an angel.”

Dean froze. “Vengeful spirits come here? And Angels?”

Castiel nodded. “Apparently,” he said. “That means that…”

“…Bobby’s out here somewhere,” Dean finished.

“I suspect your mother and father are as well,” Castiel said. “They became spirits in the end, as well.”

Dean frowned. “I hope not,” he said. He sighed. “We don’t have time to go looking,” he said regretfully. “We don’t know where any of them might be, and it…” he shook his head, biting his lip.

Castiel nodded. “I agree. But what if those souls I told you about are your parents.”

“No, Cas. I’m not going to get my hopes up,” he said.

Castiel sighed. “I understand.” He paused and looked up, behind Dean. “Dean, on my word, duck.”

Dean nodded. 

“DOWN!” Castiel shouted. Dean dropped, rolled and came up with his knife in hand. Castiel threw his sword at something that had come up behind Dean and it dropped. A half dozen more creatures attacked. 

Dean pressed back against the boulder, and met them head on.

The fight was on. Dean grimaced. All this noise would attract other attention, and that meant more creatures.

There was nothing he could do but fight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bobby wasn’t sure how long he’d been here, but then, time wasn’t logical in Purgatory. It could have been years, could have been hours.

But he was getting the hang of things, and getting used to the motley crew of dead angels, former spirits, and the occasional creature that didn’t want to kill everything in sight.

Even so, he was startled when Shemael, one of the guards, teleported in and reported a fight just outside the gates.

“Come on, Bobby, we better go deal with it,” John said. “Madison, Gabriel, you want to come?”

The werewolf and archangel headed for them. “Hang on to your hat, Bobby,” Gabriel said. He snapped his fingers, and they were suddenly outside.

Even all the times Castiel had teleported him, he still wasn’t used to it.

Bobby didn’t have time to worry about it- he could hear the fight just to his right. He couldn’t see anything yet, but whatever was fighting was noisy.

Madison twisted and shifted into her werewolf form and took off toward the fight. Gabriel followed, already calling his blade to him.

Bobby and John followed him. When they got there, Bobby barely had time to notice two human forms, backs against a large boulder, fending off a dozen… something.

Madison growled and darted in, tearing the throat out of one of the creatures. Gabriel caught another with his sword. One of the people fighting brought up a similar sword and got another. 

Another angel had made it to purgatory. Bobby hefted his shotgun and fired. 

He didn’t have time to think, he just attacked, John at his side. The two of them had, at one time, been a very good team. They weren’t as seamless as Sam and Dean were- no one was that good. But they weren’t bad.

The second figure gutted the last of the creatures and took a deep breath. Finally, Bobby could focus on who they were fighting with. “Bobby?” Dean asked him. His gaze shifted. “Dad!?”

“Dean?” Bobby and John asked in unison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Castiel wasn’t quite sure what to do. He and Dean were… as safe as they could get for a moment. Surrounded by the ghosts of Hunters, Hunters who had been turned into creatures, and his siblings, they were safe.

Dean was looking as overwhelmed as Castiel felt, as he hugged his mother. “But I don’t understand,” Mary Winchester said. “What happened? What were you turned into?”

Dean sighed. He glanced at Bobby. “I wasn’t. I killed Dick…”

“Good,” Bobby said.

Dean smiled. “Yeah, he’s gone now, Bobby. Well… he’s back here. But when he died, he took Cas and I with him here.”

“I did not know the weapon would do that, or I would not have allowed Dean to kill Dick. I would have done it,” Castiel said.

“What about Sam?” John asked.

Dean and Castiel glanced at each other. “He’s… as far as we know, back on Earth,” Dean said. “He wasn’t in the same area as where we were dropped off, at least.”

“Alone,” Bobby said.

Dean flinched. “Yeah,” he replied.

Castiel sighed. “I don’t know that there’s anything we can do for him,” he said. “I know he will try to rescue Dean, but I doubt he knows where we are.”

Dean looked down. “He’s going to… none of us do good alone,” he glanced at his father.

“So, we just make sure he’s not alone,” Gabriel said.

“And how do we do that?” Bobby asked. “None of us can get out of here. Maybe Dean and Castiel could, they’re still alive, but we don’t know how to get them out.”

The archangel grinned widely. “Easy. We can’t go to Sam. But he can come to us. And then he won’t be alone.”

Castiel considered. It was… he wouldn’t wish Purgatory on anyone. But Sam would not be happy in Heaven alone, and Crowley would not hesitate to lock Sam in the deepest part of Hell that wasn’t the cage if he could.

He said as much aloud. Dean didn’t look totally convinced, but the rest of their little conference did.

“How would we do that?” John asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam Winchester had not been having a good day. Week. Month. It had been a month since Dean and Castiel had vanished from the lab after killing Dick Roman. Sam had taken just enough time to blow up the Supracorp building and then gone on a Leviathan “cut off their head” spree. 

Amid that, he’d been trying to figure out where Dean was, and how to get him back. He’d finally discovered that Dean was probably in Purgatory, but he had no idea how to get him back.

So Sam Hunted. Any and all monsters that made the news were fair game. Some, he just took out. Others… well, he’d never tortured anything before, but he’d been tortured for a long time, so he had some ideas.

And still, he had no way to get Dean out.

He wasn’t going to fall apart this time, not like when Dean was in Hell. He knew that, this time, he’d get Dean out. It would just take some time to figure out what to do. Castiel was with Dean, the angel would keep Dean safe until Sam could pull them out.

At least, that was what Sam was telling himself.

Finally, after a disappointing shapeshifter hunt (the creatures couldn’t tell him anything about getting someone out of Purgatory) it happened.

Some sort of vortex appeared in his motel room and tried to pull him in.

Sam fought it and held on to the very walls as it tried to drag him forward.

It seemed to take an eternity before the vortex collapsed and disappeared. It took half the room’s furniture with it as it went.

“What the Hell?” Sam muttered. He checked out of the motel and ran for it. It probably wasn’t a coincidence that it had happened right in front of him.

It happened again the next day.

And the next.

The fourth time, he was in the middle of a fight with a vampire. The vampire knocked him down and turned toward the vortex. “It’s home,” he said in wonder. “Home is calling.”

Sam pulled himself to his feet, fighting the pull of the vortex. He took the vampire’s head off with one swing of his machete.

“Well you aren’t going to make that trip,” he said. He tried to step back, but the vortex was stronger this time. He staggered forward, and tripped over the vampire’s body. That was all that saved him. His legs tangled with the body’s and the vortex finally faded.

As it did, Sam frowned. It had appeared at nearly the exact same time of day as the previous times.

Clearly, whatever was behind him wanted him. So… he smiled as he got an idea. He had a lot to plan in the next day.

Twenty four hours later, Sam sat in the Impala, waiting. Right on time, the vortex formed in front of him. He smiled and started the engine. He was ready to find out what was going on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean still wasn’t sure this was a good idea. He got the reason why, of course, but he didn’t like it. Sam did not belong here. He belonged on Earth, in the sunlight. He’d never get that here.

He frowned as he watched Gabriel and Castiel as they set up for their next attempt to bring Sam here. They were working in a smaller building in the compound, away from too many prying eyes.

The first attempts had not worked, and Dean wasn’t sure how he felt about that. And that was on top of how long it had taken them to figure out how to get Sam here.

He wanted to see Sam again, and this was the only way for that to work, unless Sam went and got himself turned on a hunt. Still, he didn’t want Sam in Purgatory. His two wishes seemed to conflict with everything he wanted. He didn’t want Sam in Purgatory. He didn’t want to spend eternity without Sam.

The portal formed. Almost instantly, Dean could hear the familiar roar of a powerful engine.

“Is that…” John trailed off. A large form took shape inside the portal. Less than a second later, the sleek black shape of the Impala exploded out of the portal. In a masterful show of driving ability, the driver spun her around and sped up- straight toward Mary and John.

Rough curses filled the air as Mary and John dove out of the way. The driver of the Impala stopped her next to a wall and the door slammed open. Without even a second’s hesitation, Sam stepped out, his shotgun already up and pointed at the nearest being- who happened to be Madison- back to the wall.

Most of the room froze. No one had been expecting Sam to enter in such a dramatic fashion.

Sam faltered a moment as he recognized Madison, but after barely a second, his gaze hardened, and his grip shifted.

Dean knew Sam was about to fire. With luck, Sam was only packing salt, but it would still sting.

“Sam, stop!” Dean yelled as he ran over.

Sam simply pressed back farther. “I’m not falling for it,” he snapped.

Dean stopped next to him and slid in front of Madison. If Sam shot, he’d hit Dean first.

“It’s us, Sammy,” Dean said. He pushed Madison away.

“That’s impossible,” Sam snarled. “Dean’s in Purgatory.”

“Yeah, I am,” Dean said. “And so are you. I’m sorry, Sammy, but I…” he shook his head.

Sam hesitated. Dean knew that Sam wasn’t sure if this was real, and he wasn’t going to let himself hope it was.

Dean took a step forward. He gestured at Madison, and she stepped back. “It’s me, Sammy,” Dean murmured. “Do you remember what I told you, when you were sixteen? You were thinking of dropping out. I told you that if you graduated, I’d take the GED test.”

“What score?” Sam asked. 

“Perfect. I never told anyone but you, Sam. I got a perfect score.”

Sam lowered the shotgun and set it on the roof of the Impala. Dean stepped forward and pulled Sam into a hug. Sam clung to him- and to be fair, Dean clung right back.

Finally, Sam pulled back. “Dean… what did you do?”

Dean smiled sadly. “Got you here, Sammy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam wasn’t sure how long it had been since he’d been brought to purgatory. It could have been days. It could have been years.

But he was happy. He existed in a realm filled with monsters, lived in a guarded compound, and had to fight every day.

But he was reunited with his father. He was getting to know his mother. He had a second chance with a woman he could have loved on Earth, if they’d had the time. His angelic friend was back to normal. Bobby was here.

And he had his brother.


End file.
